Telephone booth



May 16, 1944. F. s. CORSQ l 2,349,144

TELEPHONE BOOTH WIM WIM ATTORNEY May 16, 1944. F. s. coRso 2,349,144

I TELEPHONE BOOTH v Filed DEC. l4, 1941 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Arron/ver May 16, 1944- F. s. conso 2,349,144

TELEPHONE BOOTH Filed nec. 4. 1941 FIG. 5 215x 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 lil \ 5 //vvENroR F 5. CORSO Waag/mld "ATTORNEY May 16, 1944. F. s. conso TELEPHONE BOOTH vFiled Deo. 4. 1941 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 /NVENTOR F.' S. CORSO ATmRA/Ey May 16, 1944. F.s. coRso TELEPHONE BOOTH Filed Dec. 4. 1941 FIG'. l0

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5 shets-sneet s l il I 11 i /NVENTOR E S CORSO A TTORNEV Patented May 16, 1944 TELEPHONE BOOTH Frank S. Corso, Beechhurst, N. Y., assignor to Bell Telephone Laboratories, Incorporated, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application December 4, 1941, Serial No. 421,561

6 Claims.

This invention relates to telephone booths and 'more particularly to telephone booths of metallic construction.

The object of the invention is to improve the construction of such telephone booths while decreasing their manufacturing cost.

In accordance with this invention a metallic both construction is provided having corner posts formed of relatively thin metallic strips bent laterally to form geometrical gures of substantial square cross section with their longitudinal edges forming locating and shoulder portions for securing the walls of the booth. These corner posts are secured at their lower ends to means in the forni of upright members in turn secured to metallic base portions formed at three sides thereof with ange elements having their end portions bent in a manner to form securing means .for the corner posts in addition to the upright members secured to the base. A plurality of means in the form of rectangulariy shaped metallic plates which are Welded along their longitudinal edges to the base and to the iiange elements formed therewith serve for reenforcing these elements and to form supporting means on which the walls of the booth rest.

The walls for the booth are each constructed of two superposed box-like wall sections disposed inward of the booth and a common covenlike wall section disposed outwardly of the booth and :u

ing for sound-proofing the booth at its upper end z portion, means being provided for securing the inner disposed boX-like sections to each of the outer cover-like sections to form unit assemblies with means formed at the lower end of each com,` mon outer wall to serve as bearing' points for the walls thus constructed and to form back supports for the flanges of a rubber floor covering at the interior of the booth.

Means is provided for securing the wall assemblies longitudinally of the corner posts, the edges of such corner posts permitting the mounting of the walls from outside the booth with molding members clamped to the edges of the corner posts at the interior of the booth for concealing the wall securing means from view at the interior of the i relation to each other at their disposed ends. Means secured to the underside of the roof plate supports a ceiling in spaced relation to the roof plate and forms in cooperation with a peripherally disposed rim a container for brous material, serving for sound-proofing the top ends of the booth while a casing of substantially triangular cross section secured to the front disposed corner posts and to the underside of the roof plate provides means for securing the front disposed edge of the ceiling, the casing having a hinged door permitting access to the lighting fixture from the outside of the booth with means carried by this hinged door permitting the folding movement of the booth door outwardly. One pivot for the ldoor of the booth extends through a bushing secured to the triangularly shaped casing in operative relation with a switching device provided for controlling the operation of the lighting fixture upon the movement of the booth door.

Other novel features and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description and by the claims appended thereto reference being had to the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. l is an assembly view of the booth shown in perspective with the door in its folded position;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation view, enlarged, showing the door in its unfolded position; s

3 is a vertical section taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2 showing the walls, the base, the roof and the door with portions broken away;

Fig. a is a partial view in section taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional view taken on line 5-5 of Fig, 2 shown with a numberv of operating parts with portions broken away;

Fig. 6 is a horizontal sectional view taken on line 6-6 of Fig. 2 shown with a number of operating parts with portions broken away;

Fig. 7 is an assembly view of One of the booth walls shown in perspective;

Fig. 8 is a vertical sectional View of one of the booth wall assemblies enlarged taken on line 8 8 of Fig. 6 and shown with portions broken away;

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary View of one of the booth walls shown in. perspective; and

Fig. 10 is a skeleton view shown in perspec tive and with a number of operating parts in sections and with portions broken away.

According to the telephone booth of the invention, a base 2li best seen in Fig. l0 is formed with an upright extending rear flange element 2l and side anges 22 and 23 held at right angles relative to the plane -of the base by diagonally disposed reenforcing plates 2Ia, 22a. and 23a. These reenforcing plates are secured as by Welding along their similar longitudinal edges to the base 26 and along their opposite edges to respective flanges 2Ia, 22a and 23a. The flange 2l is formed at its ends with portions such as 2lb, the flange 22 with portions 22h and the flanger 23 with portions 23h each portion having its lower end secured as by welding to the base 20. The end portions 2lb, 22h and 23h serve for securing as by ordinary screws the rear corner posts 24 and 25 and the frontv shown in Figs. 4 and 10 Welded to the base l.A The diagonally disposed reenforcing plates 2la,

22a and 23a at their upper ends are provided with laterally extending bent portionspl, p2 and p3 to serve as rests or bearing points for the booth walls which will be hereinafter described in detail. The corner posts 24, 25, 26, and 21 which are formed of relatively thin metallic strips bent to provide locating portions LP and securing shoulder portions SP for the booth walls are reenforced laterally at their middle length portions by metallic bridge strips 24o, 25o, 26c, and 21o best seen in Figs. 4, 6, and 10 and are held in spaced relation at their upper ends by a roof plate 28o having peripherally disposed rim portions RI, R2, R3 shown in Figs. 3, 5, and 10, the rim RI being secured at its ends as by screws 24a: and 26x to the corner posts 24 and 26, the rim R2 to the corner posts 24 and 25 by screws 2411 and 25a.' and the rim R3 to the corner posts 25 and 21 respectively by screws 25g and 21st.v

A casing Cl shown in Figs. 3, 5, and of substantially triangular cross section has one of its sides secured to the under sidel of roof plate 28e at the front end thereof as by a number of similar screws 29e while the front side of this casing is provided with a door 30 hinged as at 29g forming the front wall at the top entrance of the booth while giving access when opened to a lighting fixture secured to aY cornbination bracket ab, the lighting fixture hav'- ing a. lamp 68 and a reector 31 disposed coaxially and in juxtaposition to a translucent glass 32 at the interior of the booth, the Wall portion 33 of the triangularly shaped casing CI forming a shoulder portion serving for securing the front disposed edge of a perforated plate 34 forming the ceiling of the booth. The plate 34 is provided with a peripherally disposed rim 35 forming with the apertured ceiling plate a container for fibrous material ,fm serving for sound-proofing the top end of the booth, the rear and the sides of the container thus formed being supported by a, number of similarly shaped brackets 36 secured at one of their ends to the underside of roof plate 28o as'by welding while their other ends are secured to the perforated plate 34 as by a number of screws 31.

The rear wall and the side walls for the booth as shown in Figs. 3, 7, 8, 9, and 10 are each formed of an outer disposed cover-like section 38 and two inner disposed box-like sections 39 and 40. To the cover-like section 38 of each wall is secured, as by Welding at points :l: and xl, a hook member 4I extending transverse thereof for securely receiving a registering portion 39a of box-like section 39 and a registering portion 48a of box-like section 48 in addition to screws such as 39h and 40h securing these box-like sections to the opposite ends of cover section 38 as shown in Figs. 7 and 8, while the cover-like section 38 of this Wall is formed at its lower end with a projection 84p provided for a purpose which will be hereinafter described in detail. The box-like section 39 of each wall cooperates with the top end portion of its respective coverlike section 38 to form a casing for housing iiouter wall section 38 to form a casing for housf ing cardboard sheets shown in Figs. 3 and 10 serving as filler elements between this cover and v box-like section.

The booth wallsthus constructed are held in assembled relation against the shoulder portions SP of the corner posts 24, 25, 26 and 21 as shown in Figs. 6 and 10 by a number of similar screws 49 passing through clearance holes CH best seen in Fig. 10 along the edge of the shoulder portions SP of the corner posts in threaded engagement with holes EY in the inner disposed box-like wall sections 39 and 40 and in registering holes along the inwardly turned edge TD of the outer disposed cover-like section 38, the parallel edges of corner posts 24 and 25, 26 and 21 which form the shoulder portions SP being bent laterally and inwardly of the booth to form hook portions for receiving registering portions formed along the edges of molding elements 34x, 35m, 36x and 31.1: provided for concealing the securing screws 49 from the interior of the booth.

'A rubber covering 881/ for the base 26 is provided with upwardly extending flange portions 8| as shown in Figs. 1, 3' and 4 resting against backing elements formed by the downwardly extending projections 84p of outer disposed cover-like wall sections 38 and are secured thereto at their upper disposed edges by molding strips 82 and screws 83 engaging similarly screwthreaded holes 84, see Fig. 7, while the rubber covering 8U is secured to the base 20 at its front end by a metallic tread bar 85 in turn secured to the base 20 as by so-called spot-Welding.

The frame for the booth door D is formed by the front corner posts 26 and 21, the metallic tread bar 85, Figs. 1 and 2, secured to the booth base in cooperation with that portion of the triangularly-shaped casing CI at the top of the booth which forms the U-shaped guiding member 63 for the slider 64 serving to guide the movement of the door D from the folded position shown in Fig. 1 to unfolded position shown in Fig. 2, the unfolding movement of the door D being effective to actuate in any well-known manner a switching device 61, Fig. 3, for energizing the lamp 68 of the lighting fixture used for the lighting of the interior of the booth.

What is claimed is: f

1. A telephone booth comprising a base having upwardly extending flanges at three sides thereof metallic plates secured to said base an'd said anges diagonally thereof for reenforcing said flanges, a plurality of corner posts, a plurality of means for securing said corner posts at their lower ends to said base and said fianges, two side walls and a rear wall for said booth, means formed with said metallic plates for supporting said rear wall and said side Walls, and means for securing said rear wall and said side walls to said corner posts in assembled relation to each other.

2l. A telephone booth comprising a base having upward extending anges at three sides thereof, metallic plates secured to said base and said ilanges diagonally thereof, corner posts secured at their lower ends to said base and said anges, a rear wall and two side walls, means formed with said metallic plates a predetermined distance from the top edges of said anges forming bearing elements for said rear wall and said side walls at the lower ends thereof, means formed with said corner posts serving as backing elements for said walls interiorly of the booth, and means for securing said rear walls and said side walls to said backing elements, said backing elements permitting the mounting and removal of the rear wall and the side walls from the exterior of the booth.

3. A telephone booth comprising a metallic base having anges extending perpendicularly from said base, corner posts secured at their lower end to said base and to means carried by said flanges, a rear wall and two side walls formed of metallic plates, reenforcing means for said flanges forming supports for said rear wall and said side walls, said corner posts having laterally bent portions forming locating means and backing means for said rear wall and said side walls, one of said metallic plates in each wall having a portion extending from said support to said base, a rubber covering for said base having upwatrdly extending portions disposed over the downwardly extending portion of each of the last mentioned metallic plates and means for securing said rubber covering in adjusted position to the downwardly extending portions of said metallic plates.

4. A telephone booth comprising a base having upwardly extending anges at three sides thereof, metallic plates secured diagonally to said base and to said ilanges for reenforcing the latter, said plates being bent to form bearing portions, two side walls and a rear Wall for the booth resting on said bearing portions, corner posts, means carried by said base for securing said corner posts at their lower ends to said base and to means formed with said flanges welded to said base, a roof for said booth having peripherally disposed rim portions resting on said walls and secured to said corner posts at the top end thereof, a plurality of brackets carried by said roof, a ceiling secured at three sides to said brackets, a casing of substantially triangular cross section secured to the front disposed corner posts and one of its sides secured to the underside of said roof, a door for said casing forming the front wall of the booth at the top entrance thereof, and lighting fixture for the booth housed in said casing.

5. A telephone booth having a plurality of walls, each of said walls comprising a common cover-like wall element having a hook member secured thereacross and inwardly thereof a plurality of box-like wall elements having their adjacent ends formed with portions engaging said hook elements, and means for securing the opposite disposed ends of said box-like elements to said cover-like element.

6. In a telephone booth, a base, flanges formed at three sides of said base, a plurality of walls, each of said walls comprising rectangularly shaped box-like wall elements, means extending from said base to a small distance from the edges of said flanges for reenforcing them and to form supports for said wall elements, each ol said wall elements having` portions extending from their bearing points on said support to said base to form backing members, corner posts secured to said base at the four corners thereof, said corner posts having shoulder portions forming frames for receiving said box-like wall elements from outside of the booth, means for securing said walls to said shoulder portions interiorly of the booth, molding strips hooked longitudinally to said corner posts for concealing said securing means from View at the interior of the booth, and a oor covering placed on said base and having portions extending upwardly in contacting relation with said backing members.

FRANK S. CORSO. 

